10 Back-to-School iPhone Apps

The summer is coming to an end and it's back-to-school time. If you have ever been a student, you'll know that student life is not easy or cheap. With rising tuition costs, high unemployment, and busy schedules, finding ways to manage your time and budget seems impossible. No need to panic! Last week, we showcased back-to-school savings tips. This week, we have 10 iPhone applications that can help you manage your student life. (See also: 16 Best Mobile Shopping Apps For Your Phone)

Rate My Professor

Ever had a lecture where the monotonous professor puts you to sleep? Rate My Professor was one of my favorite sites while at university. Now it's an iPhone application. The app allows you to view other students' comment and rating of professors and write your own review about them. The great thing with the app is that you can tweet it or post it on your Facebook — just be careful what you say!

Evernote

Taking notes in class is not always easy, but Evernote can help. This app takes text and voice notes, which can be synchronized to an online account so that it's accessible everywhere. Although typing on your iPhone all day long may not be the most convenient way to take notes, the voice recording can be very versatile.

Pageonce Personal Finance

Classes, assignments, exams, papers to write... Students have enough to remember. Worrying about when bills are due and managing accounts does not have to be hard. With Pageonce Personal Finance, you can manage all your online accounts anywhere, anytime.

myHomework

Keeping track of assignments can get complicated; myHomework can help you keep your head above water. You can keep track of assignments in different classes and when they are due. You can see all your homework laid out in a calendar view and send homework reminders to friends. It's a free application and with very practical uses for the busy student.

Blackboard Mobile Learn

Blackboard seems to be a very poplar platform used by many schools to communicate with their students. Assignments and grades are often posted on Blackboard, and professors point students to Blackboard for lecture notes and assignments. If your school utilizes Blackboard, then you can have instant access to all the information posted by your school, professors, and classmates.

iStudiez Pro

iStudiez Pro is not a free application ($2.99), but it can be very useful. It helps you keep track of your classes and assignments. It can color-code each assignment with the corresponding class and notify you of their due dates. It may just be the best $2.99 you spend in college.

New Oxford American Dictionary

By the time I graduated I probably went through four dictionaries. (They kept disappearing, somehow.) The New Oxford American Dictionary has over 250,000 entries stored on your phone, which means no internet connection needed. It also includes over 60,000 audio pronunciations.

Chegg

Textbooks are expensive — really expensive. Finding used textbooks is not always easy and even then it may be an outdated edition. Chegg is a textbook rental company with millions of books you can choose from. No need to stand in line for hours at the campus bookstore: All you need is the free Chegg app, the book's title, author or ISBN, or you can simply scan the bar code. The app also has a reminder to return the book so you won't incur any late fees.

Formulus Free

Formulus Free can come in handy whether you love or hate math. The free app helps you find formulas, so no more searching pages of your textbook to find the right one —: they're all at your fingertips.

Free Books

Free Books costs $1.99, but all the books are free. Although you may not find the newest books in the application, it contains over 23,000 books, including most classic books you'll probably study in school. You are probably thinking, "Who can read the whole book on their iPhone?" Well, fear not. This application lets you email the book to yourself. You can download and read it on your computer or notebook.

Going back to school can be an exciting and stressful time; hopefully, some of these applications can help you get through another year of school. If you are looking for more great phone applications, check out this list of 75 phone applications that will save you money

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Guest #1

Anki for the iPhone is a -must- have for any person studying pretty much everything. A mobile spaced repetition system will pay off in spades for any student!

I use Audio Footnote (my app) to record notes while listening to audiobooks and podcasts during my commute. It's a good way to get caught up on material and being able to take notes for each audio program is helpful when reviewing things later. Check it out at http://www.audiofootnote.com

Leave your damn phone off! You shouldn't be using a phone, let alone the iphone, in a classroom environment. It is way too easy to cheat with it to name the top reason. We don't need apps for every goddamn thing we do! We've managed for thousands of years without electronics and phones to get things done. I am sick and tired of seeing iphones and droids in teens and young adults hands. I'm all for technology but we DO NOT need to tweet from the bus stop or check your email between classes. You aren't that damn important! Get a phone that makes calls only. Civilization is turning into app crazy anti-social drones who are afraid to go outside without their phone because they don't want to miss anything from facebook. Here's an idea that might help, actually go to your friends house and hang out. Give em a call first before you leave to make sure he's home. Once you are there, turn your phone off, cook up some meat on the grill and drink a beer or smoke a doobie. That's what people used to do. Hell, that's what I'm doing right now.

I do have to disagree about Chegg.com though - I had a horrible experience with them. I tried to rent a book from them and two weeks later (after it was supposed to have shipped and just as classes were starting), I received notification that the book was supposedly out of stock. Not only did this leave me scrambling to find a replacement after classes (law school classes no less) had started, but after I went on the site, I noticed that the same book (same edition everything) was actually still on their site, just at a higher price. I never heard back from their customer service.

Additionally, if you buy a used book and then resell it online or to friends, you are highly likely to break even on your textbooks. By renting from Chegg, your upfront costs are lower because you are just renting, but that cost is sunk because you lose the opportunity to resell your books.

I don't think all of the aps on this article are as handy as others. I still prefer to keep my homework assignments in a paper agenda and keep track of my finances the same way. My phone already has its own calendar and its just as easy to set appointments and keep track on there as it is with an application. I do like using rate my professor and my university uses blackboard so those apps are pretty useful :)